This presentation was created by digital marketing and social media genius Marta Kagan, and it talks about how to survive in the current music industry, providing some amazing advice and examples to learn from.

You can check out her Posterous blog to see more slides and great information about digital marketing, branding, and social media.

The Career Development Center at the Berklee College of Music has published a very interesting survey about the various music industry professions along with their respective annual salary ranges in 2010. The study covers a broad range of specific careers, including orchestral, Broadway, and studio musicians; choir directors; jingles, TV, and film score composers; arrangers; conductors; instrument makers; A&R; managers; music attorneys; video game audio engineers; live sound and sound recording engineers; audiologists; and music teachers.

This week’s featured artist does a lot of work for films, but recently released his first solo music project over at Bandcamp. The dude’s name is Amir Motlagh, and I was really intrigued by this short 4-song EP he released last month.

Pledgemusic has easily become one of my favorite fan funding companies in the space. The platform they provide for artists and fans to connect is incredible, and allows musicians and music lovers to interact and support each other without it feeling cheesy or gimmicky like some other fan funding platforms out there.

A couple of nights ago, an brave soul by the name of “Mastertone” posed a question on Reddit asking other musicians to share their wackiest promotion techniques.

In less than 24 hours, the thread garnered over 90 comments from musicians talking about the strangely successful things they’ve done to promote their gigs. Others complained that these “promo techniques” are cheap gimmicks. This is why I am fascinated by Reddit. The community there is rock solid, even rabid at times. When Reddit users find something interesting, controversial, or cool, it spreads quicker than an STD in a strip club.